Facets of Ayn Rand

By Charles and Mary Ann Sures

For the first time in book form, a portrait of Ayn Rand has been written by authors who have, not some ax to grind, but only a desire to do her justice.

As Mary Ann Sures explains their purpose: "We are concerned with the woman who defined the philosophy of Objectivism, who let us enter the bright shining worlds she created in The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, who straightened our intellectual spines and made it possible for us to lift our heads and look up and out, and to step forward into great distances with certainty and conviction. That's the woman we are going to talk about. That is the 'real' Ayn Rand."

Prepared by two of her longtime friends, these memoirs (in interview form) of their personal relationships with Ayn Rand reveal many intriguing facets of their subject. For example, we see the acute awareness she had of all her values, large or small. From her love for her husband, to her attachment to her stamp collection, to her distaste for surprise parties, she always knew what she did and did not like—and why.

We see the enormous benevolence emanating from Ayn Rand—her respectful, non-condescending attitude toward those less knowledgeable or less intelligent than she—her meticulous concern for the well-being of her guests—her conscientious efforts in composing exactly the right inscription in the book she would give as a gift to a friend. Above all, we see her boundless willingness to teach, to explain, to answer questions, to assist with personal problems. To those who shared her values, Ayn Rand was abundantly generous with her time.

Admirers of Ayn Rand who want to know the kind of person she actually was will find out in this wonderful book. Leonard Peikoff, whose "My 30 Years with Ayn Rand: An Intellectual Memoir," is an ideal companion to this, writes in his Introduction: "The unique quality of these memoirs is not only the new content they reveal, but also the perfect balance they achieve among ideas, emotions and actions, including where appropriate specific dialogue and physical, perceptual details. The result has almost the impact of fiction, specifically of Romantic characterization. From the book one gains not a melange of random memories, abstract ideas and disconnected concretes, but rather the experience of an actual larger-than-life person.The person in this book is the same person I myself knew for so long; reading these pages is almost like having Ayn Rand in the room again. The result on me is partly sadness that the irreplaceable is gone, but mostly exhilaration that she once was real."